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   You’re a criminal because you love. You’re a pirate because you’re a hero. Fight for freedom and passion on the Spellbound Sea! This will be a Spellbound Kingdoms PbP using the forums and discord. You’re playing pirates, but not the historical unwashed pillaging psychopaths. You’re playing the most heroic ideal of pirates. This is a setting where love can make you immortal and change the world, and so it’s hoarded by a corrupt nobility. You’re a ray of light in a dark setting, bringing hope and freedom back to an otherwise bleak world. A more formal, structured approach seems to work better with PbPs on this forum, so it’s going to be a bit of a PbP CYOA hybrid using the Scene Play system in the Spellbound Kingdoms book. Players will have a number of scenes to choose from each chapter and will decide which ones they’re interested in pursuing. Scene types include Combat, Social, Stealth, Chase, Investigation, Battle, and Vignette. In addition, they will be Solo, Buddy, or Team. They’ll come with a known reward and some possible bonuses or penalties depending on how things play out. Here’s the first scene list: 1. A Friendly Drinking Game (Social – Solo) Reward: Loyal Crew! 2. Stealing Secrets (Stealth or Investigation– Solo) Reward: Secrets! 3. Good Old Fashioned Thieving (Stealth or Combat - Buddy) Rewards: Money! 4. Prison Break! (Any – Buddy) Rewards: Loyal Skilled Lieutenant! 5. Taking the Royal (Combat & Chase – Group) Rewards: A Legendary Ship! 6. R&R (Vignette – any) Rewards: Mood! 7. Write In! If something isn’t chosen, it likely will not be available next chapter which will have a new list of scenes. Buddy scenes take 2 people, Team scenes take 3+ people. This sets up a metagame of time investment. For example, a group of 6 can steal secrets, stage a prison break, and take the Royal but the Royal scene will be very hard and there will be no one left for thieving. Scenes which take a lot of back and forth, like combat, will be resolved in discord and then we’ll post summaries. Applications: Write up a sheet and find a picture. Instead of giving a backstory, write a short scene that shows who your character is. Think of Jack Sparrow’s first appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean. He sails triumphantly into port on the mast of a sinking ship, salutes some hanged pirates, and then has a philosophical debate with the harbor master over his docking fee. We don’t know his motivation or his childhood or all the supernatural crap yet, but we know a lot about who he is. Character Creation: Characters begin at level 6, 18 skill points default (1st level) equipment and wealth level. That means you're relatively broke but you've got the levels to be real heroes. Better get some treasure if you want nice things! Recruitment ends Monday 9/11! Discord: https://discord.gg/NUWPJmj Mr. Prokosch fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Sep 7, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 20:29
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 18:12 |
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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1559242g4k0lkMPZzHftHgdfz_GVplne7x5gbp8IwVGg/edit My cool savage shark-guy. Scene: Kai was being led from the brig to the plank, where he would walk the plank and be fed to sharks, his hands tied behind his back. He'd been found as a stowaway after the boat had left the islands. He was a young man, barely more than a boy, and the captain hadn't wanted to kill him; but soon after, they captured a merchant ship and during the short battle, Kai had twice killed a defender - probably merchants who had dared to take up arms - who the captain wanted alive. That didn't do, and so now he was going to the plank. On the way, he passed the Captain, and suggested a wager. "Hey, captain. Do i get my own hammock if i kill the sharks and climb back?" he asked. The captain, thinking it the gallows humor of a dead man, nodded. "Sure. I'll even let you have your spear!" The crew laughed, uneasily, and brought Kai his spear, which he could hold only akwardly in his hands behind his back. The whole crew was a bit uneasy - on the one hand, Kai was young, and even pirates didn't like killing the young. On the other hand, he was comfortable with killing, and had defied the captain's orders, not to mention that it was always a spectacle to see someone fed to the sharks. The unease was made worse by Kai's demeanor. He was smiling, almost pleasant, seemed to treat the whole thing like a bother he was happy to be over with, almost like he had some secret plan... or just didn't understand what was happening. In any case, he was brought to the plank, which he walked willingly enough. On the precipice, Kai looked down, seeing two sharks circleing beneath. They were Sharp-tooth and Mean-finn, and, from the talk kai had heard, were used to being fed by pirates around here. They were large and white and scarred, but Kai had killed bigger sharks. For a moment, there at the precipice, fear took him, but then pride seized his heart and drew away fear. Kai turned back to the pirates further in, for just a moment, and smiled a wolfish smile, then, anxious to jump, he broke his bonds with a single, concerned effort. Before the pirates could do anything about it, however, he laughed at the challenge and dove from the plant, spear first. For a moment, no more than a heartbeat or two, he savored the salty air and the wind as he fell, but then his spear hit his mark, Sharp-tooth, and his body was underwater. The beast at the end of his spear thrashed and turned toward him, but he swung around and above it, putting his weight in the spear, which elicited another powerful thrash, but before he could finish it off, Mean-finn lunged at him. Kicking backwards, Kai got out of the way, but Mean-finn's tail smashed his spear to pieces. It turned towards Kai, but he grabbed its top Fin and swung on top it. There, he could get his head above water for a moment, taking another deep breath, while he relentlessly punched the shark. Quickly, it dived to be rid of him, but he thrust his hand into the shark's right eye and tore it from the socket. In good time, too; Sharp-tooth, from below him, had righted itself and swam at him, but it was a weak charge, trailing water and pained by the head and fragments of Kai's spear, still lodged deep in its body. Kai met it head-on, grabbing each of its jaws with one hand and forcing them open, wider and wider, until the creature began trashing to get out, but to no avail; Kai just used the chance to kick it once more, and eventually he heard a loud Crack from inside the jaw, and the shark went wild. It slipped his grip, but with the jaw broken, i could not attack in its usual manner, and as it swung its tail around, Kai grabbed the tail, pulled himself up futher, and found the hole where his spear had entered the shark. Resolutely, he stuck his hand in and tore out the spear-head and the stump of shaft it was affixed to, and with it came blood and viscera. The shark thrashed one last time in the red water, but it was weak with blood-loss and fell still, dead. Kai hurried towards the surface, now; his lungs were burning from a lack of air. But Mean-finn, the shark he'd stunned with blows and and torn out the eye of, was quicker than expected, and caught his leg while he shot towards the surface. Kai reached it, barely, screaming in pain from his legs, but he got a mouthfull or two of air as well before being pulled back under. There, he kicked the shark twice, getting free, and swung to its side, where it had lost an eye. He was too close to it, now, and couldn't maneuver well, so calling on all his strength and his pride, he wrapped around the shark with both his hands and squeezed as best he knew, feeling cartilage and muscle give way under him. He almost had the beast when it managed to shake him off, but the pain from bent bones. Kai took the intiative, and kicked off toward the shark again, grabbing it by the upper jaw to gain an advantage and shove the shaft and head of his spear into the sharks eye and further into its brain. The pirates, for their part, looked on from above. Kai fell, spear first, into the sharks, and the saw the water turn read the moment he landed. Then, a frenzy and for a moment, they saw Kai above the water again, struggeling with something beneath him, something bloody, and then he went again into the water, which was now quite pink. Then, moments later, more blood welled up, turning the water from pink to read, followed momentarily by Kai screaming. Several of the pirates, the more consientious among them, perhaps, sighed, having hoped for a moment that Kai would survive and win his bet with the captain. Then... the water went quiet for a time, and as the pirates were begining to think it over, a movement, followed by Kai surfacing again. covered in blood and gore, he swam to the side of the boat and, using two shark teeth, climbed it while pirates looked on in shock. Eventually, he pulled himself over the railing and onto the deck, leaning back against it, to weak from bloodloss and exhaustion. "So... Can i have that hammock, now?" he asked, weakly, and his head lolled to the side. The pirates all looked to their captain, who nodded. "Get the damned doctor here and somone fix this man a hammock."
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Sep 9, 2017 03:38
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 quote:Captain Andress, commanding officer of His Majesties Ship Inevitable (a galleon of twelve guns, with a well seasoned crew) smiled eagerly as her vessel rounded the headland that protected the small cove. This jungle island had sheltered the infamous pirate Eastwind and the carrack they used to menace shipping lanes and raid coastal towns for nearly three years, and the Royal Marnh Navy had never managed to approach it without alerting the criminal. Until now. Andress had spent months of study on old charts and weather records, consulted sages at the University, and scouted the region incognito without official sanction from her superiors, all to discern the perfect time to launch an attack. Fog, prevailing winds, and the inscrutable favor of a bribed Low God of tides had kept her prey contained and unaware. The first sign Eastwind would have of her arrival would be the sudden flight of brightly coloured birds from the trees as they passed. The second would be a moment she had been waiting for ever since she was a junior midshipman watching from a crippled sloop as the pirate escaped with a nobles ransom in gold. She turned to First Mate Zeelowe and said: quote:Victoria Andress, prisoner 12406 and commander of nothing but her conscience, gritted her teeth and pushed through the jungle. Behind her, in the village, waited food and water, a bed, some relief from the insects and rain, a pair of shoes. But she would not go back. Hated for her success, despised for her enthusiasm, and dreaded for her ambition, her superiors and their noble patrons had betrayed her to the Kingsmen and had her taken without ceremony or charge to one of the 'colonies' for investigation. Her loyalty to Marnh had been questioned, her years of service ignored. She had endured torture and deprivation with equanimity, knowing her innocence would come out. But the commandant of the camp had shown no interest in the truth, and bluntly told her she would not return to the sea as the same person. Before the witch could arrive to alter her she escaped, killing the commandant and several guards with their own weapons. Now, footsore and weary she pushed past another thicket and found herself on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. A ship was passing close by, and she decided it was better to risk drowning than return to captivity, so she jumped. quote:Victoria Andress, 'captain' of the fire-ship Golden Opportunity, waited in a Queensport tavern. Her old comrades would never recognize her - dirty, her hair chopped short, dressed like a low class merchant sailor - but that was the point. Her new friends would be along shortly, and they had a plan to start getting even with the Kings and nobles who offered nothing to them but lies and oppression. If it took a little dirt, a little low company, and a lot of piracy to accomplish their plan, so be it. Warily sipping thin ale, she passed time by reading the old wanted posters on the wall. Her face was there (a poor likeness, fortunately) as was Eastwind. The scoundrel had escaped the gallows once again, and was rumored to be operating in northern waters. She smiled into her tankard. Good. They would meet again.
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Sep 10, 2017 02:41
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Interest post.
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Sep 11, 2017 06:14
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Captain Damian Mutton prided himself on his nose for trouble. He strongly believed that nothing could sink a trader's fortune faster than unexpected trouble, wheter that took the form of an unexpected storm or an overzealous border officer. He tried to be as prudent as possible when, on a lovely red-orange twilight while his men were unloading their cargo in planning a journey, so he was quite surprised when he saw a seradynn witch wearing the cloak of the Dryght, the royally backed mage school of Akra and enforcers' of King Lucius' laws, approaching him, followed closely by three armed bodyguards. "Are you the captain of this vessel?" she said with a unctuous voice that reminded Damian of a snail. "That I am, sir." "There is an unsactioned wizard in your vessel. Deliver them to us and we will be lenient." The captain's exression was genuine shock. "A wizard! I don't allow wizards onto my vessel, they are nothing but trouble." The wizard sneered. "I have just performed a divination that let me perceive a spellbound being in there. Are you doubting my word?" "No, no! It's just-" "What seems to be the problem, captain?" Both men turned to look at the woman who had just spoken, the first mate of the Albatross, Odessa Lowbranch. She seemed pretty unimpressed with the lot of them.  Damian pointed at the wizard. "This man here says we have a wizard on board! Is there a stowawy somewher on the ship? Have it searched!" Odessa shook her head. "That won't be necessary, sir. I think I know what this person is talking about." She placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled, so sharp and loud that everyone winced. A brightly plumed figure detached itself from the brig of the ship, and flew to the woman's outstretched arm.  "This here is Berry. He was bound to me by a magic source I had an occasion to witness in a voyage to the Dragon Isles. I practice no magic, but it makes me spellbound." She announced, scratching the parrot behind its head. "I am legally registered as such, and my document should be in the captain's office." "No it shouldn't!" Damian screamed, red-faced and outraged. "You never gave me that! I wouldn't have hired you if I had known you were spellbound!" The officer raised an eyebrow. "I am quite sure that I did, captain. We can verify quickly enough, though; don't you keep all the hiring papers in your cabin?" "Aye, in my desk." huffed the seasoned seaman, with fire in his eyes. "Let us go see then, captain." commanded the seradynn, her own eyes alight with the spark of magic. "This woman is indeed spellbound, and if she's unlawfully so, you'll both pay for this charade." ----- Damian Mutton looked in disbelief at the hiring papers of his newest officer. There it was, a formal declaration of being magic-touched that he could have sworn on his mother's grave he had never seen before. But who else could have entered his cabin? He was always careful to lock it when he left it. "Everything seems to be in order." murmured the wizard, clearly unhappy. "Still, I want to be sure. We shall do a full sweep of your vessel." "Cra! Cra!" said the parrot, from the captain's bed on which he had perched. "Kiss my rear end! Kiss my rear end!" Odessa snorted, picking up the unruly avian while the axemen fumed. "You'll have to forgive Berry. He spends all the time around rough seafolk, and he has picked up quite the vocabulary." She marched to the window "Out you go, you rascal. Go tell Gawain that I'll be late." The parrot flew away, while the seradynn narrowed her eyes and almost snarled. Oh, how she hoped to find something to punish in here. A Low God idol, an enchanted cutlass, anything. She'll make this insubordinate wretch eat her own sarcastical tongue. ----- Two hours later, Odessa stood on the deck of the ship, looking at the axeman witch marching away, clearly fuming at having found nothing more incriminating than some raunchy literature. She probably shouldn't have told the seradynn officer that she could take it if she had trouble finding company: that was a step too far, even if her bodyguards did snort. Shrugging, she returned to her cabin, nodding at the crew as she passed by. Many of them found it hilarious that the old Mutton had forgotten that his first officer was spellbound. She made a mental note to make sure that her employment onboard wasn't compromised, but she wasn't really worried. The good captain wasn't nearly as strong-willed or clever as he thought he was, and she could fast talk with the best of them. Once in the privacy of her room, she poked her head out of her window and looked down. There, dangling from the anchor's chain, was Gawain Hill, fugitive mage. "You got my message, I take it." she comments, dryly. Good thing that no one can see him, since her cabin faces portside, and the ship was anchored in such a way that the only side visible was the starboard one. She had taken care to make port in just the right way, in case something like that happened. "Yep, your parrot sure came through. Can I get a little help?" "One moment." Soon after, a rope was thrown out the window. After climbing it, the runaway finds Odessa leaning against the wall of her cabin. "We're going to sail away tomorrow, so it's best if you leave once it's dark. Keep your head down for a few days." Gawain nodded and smiled at her. "Thank you so much. I-" He was interrupted by the shrll voice of Berry. "Cra! Cra! Berry saved your arse, boy! Give Berry seeds, or Berry pecks your eyes out!" Gawain laughs and shakes his head. "How can such a cute little thing be so vulgar?" Odessa shrugs, smiling despite herself. "Never did find the time to send him to etiquette lessons. Do buy him some seeds once you're out of here, or he'll follow you to Oryn-Ja and back for them." Berry sits on Odessa's chair. "Boy better have Berry's seeds, or Berry poops on his hat every day!"
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Sep 12, 2017 20:01
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https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3834113 Thread is up! Tyrannosaurus if you want to play make a character, we're definitely below the PC limit!
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Sep 13, 2017 19:51
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 18:12 |
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I never actually posted Odessa's sheet in here. Doing it now to make it easier to find. Race: Princess of wolves Class: Trader 6 • Strength 5 • Quickness 6 • Reason 6 • Charisma 10 (assigned 8) • Magic 4 • Heart 8 (assigned 7) *Inspirations: +Dreams of having her own trading company 3 +Loves any and all underdogs 3 +Hates bullies 2 *Fighting styles Dagger-and-wine (Apprentice), black powder musketeer (neophyte; knows Plume and Blade and Called shot: Limb) *Histories Was raised by a pack of wolves 4 (1 point) Pickpocketing orphan on the streets of Queensport 6 (3 points) Apprenticed under Cheery Cherry, conwoman and snake oil saleswoman for the Screaming Angel thief guild 6 (3 points) Studied cartography in the Maritime University of Queensport 8 (5 points) First mate aboard the merchant vessel Albatross 9 (6 points) *As a princess of wolves, Odessa can lend another player one of her Inspirations. If she does, she can't use an Inspiration this turn. *To the heart. Odessa can see a man's inner heart, and she can crush it. Or inspire it, if she so chooses. Once per scene per target, you can damage an Inspiration with a successful social attack, whether or not your opponent is at 0 Mood. *Exotica: Odessa, during her travels and adventures, has picked up: -An incredibly rude parrot familiar by the name of Berry. She can see through his eyes for about 40 minutes a day. -A bizarre spiritual experience that involved a plate of mushrooms "blessed" by a Fyrajy shaman and an unstable handrail on the docks. Odessa is vague about the details, but the fact is that she now possess the Barracuda Beast World ability, which reduces the Doom of any swimming check by 3. *Leader: Once per scene (or day) per person, you can raise a friend's Mood by 3 points with only a short conversation or even a simple gesture such as sharing a swig from your hip flask. Once you are a Magnate, you can use your leadership to raise an ally's Mood by 5, but still only once per scene (or day) per person. *Sell: Whether it is ivory flatware from Oryn-ja or a threat to scar a courtesan from ear to ear, no one sells it like you do. Once per scene, you can use your Trader level as a bonus die when you attempt to sell something. This includes selling in the metaphorical sense; for example, convincing someone that your point of view is the correct one. *Talents: +Minor: -Secret sharer: You tempt people into divulging their secrets. When a person confides a secret in you, she increases her maximum Mood by 1. This lasts until the secret is no longer a secret (whether you sold it or whether it was exposed through anothere eventuality). At the minor level, you can share one secret each from three people at the major level, you can share two secrets each from four people; and at the grand level, you can share two secrets each from a number of people equal to your Charisma. -Fashion kills. Treat any fashion item that you use in a social scene as one Quality point higher than it really is (minor); two points higher (major); four points higher (grand) Equipment: *Amber necklace with a small insect frozen within it. A modest but curious fashion item. WL 3 (counts as 4 thanks to Fashion kills talent). *A passable dagger. Quality 2, WL 3. *A very fine dagger. Quality 3, 500 crowns. *Grapple gun and belt winch. Quality 4, 150 feet. WL 3. *Smoke bomb. Obscures the area, reducing melee attacks by one die and making ranged attacks impossible. Roll Strength vs. Doom to throw it one area away. WL 2. *700 shiny golden crowns. paradoxGentleman fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Sep 28, 2017 |
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Sep 23, 2017 00:39
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